Michael Smyth, The Province, April 20, 2010
And how green is it, any way, to hire five planes to fly a posse north?
Only in the topsy-turvy world of environmental politics would a government rent a squadron of airplanes to jet a bunch of backslappers and media types into the middle-of-nowhere to prove how "green" they are.
But that was the scenario Monday, as Gordon Campbell and a fleet of onlookers and supporters touched down at the tiny Hudson's Hope airport to witness the premier's announcement of the Site-C dam megaproject.
The New Democrats said Campbell and his entourage flew in a rented Learjet
-- "a Learjet for King Lear," as NDP energy critic John Horgan put it -- while four other airplanes were reserved for officials, dignitaries and reporters.
The government wouldn't confirm the cost of the event -- or how many tonnes of greenhouse gases were spewed into the atmosphere to announce a project that will reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.
But keep in mind Campbell was not announcing final approval of this massive energy project. That will only come after years of environmental-impact studies by several layers of government.
Could there be any clearer indication that he's thinking of calling it quits in politics?
Campbell looks to be in serious "legacy" mode at the moment. Just as W.A.C. Bennett left a legacy of giant hydroelectric dams -- Monday's announcement was made at the one named after the great man himself -- now Campbell seems to be thinking of how he'll be remembered when he's gone from office.
With Campbell sinking lower in the polls than a snake's belly in a wagon rut, that exit could come sooner than later. And I suspect the premier was anxious to place his mark on what could be the last giant dam to be built in B.C.
Think about it: "The Gordon M. Campbell Dam" has a nicer ring to it than "that damn Gordon Campbell" being uttered by angry anti-HST petition-signers all around B.C. these days.
Making the Site-C announcement now might also be a way for the government to draw some attention away from that HST petition, and put some pressure on an NDP that is divided by the project.
Horgan, for example, said Monday the NDP is opposed to Site C -- even though he's been on the record many times in the past as supporting it.
"It would be as clean and green as any dam in North America," Horgan told The Province in 2007.
Horgan said Monday he was concerned about the huge cost of the project, but that didn't seem to bother him in 2006 when he said: "We should pay a premium for renewables so that we can rid ourselves of technologies like coal, and [this is] why I get excited about the prospect of large projects like perhaps Site C."
This is the same John Horgan who now has a picture of himself on his website holding a "Site C Sucks" sign. And it's the same Horgan who tore a strip off Campbell on Monday for spending taxpayers' money to make the announcement in such a remote location.
"You announced an environmental review, not the second coming of Christ,"
Horgan said in the legislature.
OK, maybe the news wasn't that big. But Campbell and the Liberals still hope this legacy project might discombobulate the NDP, and be the miracle they need to resurrect themselves in the polls.
msmyth@theprovince.com
